The present invention relates to a method for impregnating a solid with a water-soluble material. More particularly, it relates to a method for producing an alumina catalyst composite by impregnating a water-sensitive alumina suitable for use as a catalyst component with at least one additional catalyst component.
It is well known in the art to employ porous solids comprising at least one metal oxide as a component or support for materials, such as catalytic agents, promoters, adsorbents, and the like. The material is disposed upon the surfaces, interior and exterior of the carrier by any suitable means. A convenient and frequently used methods is impregnation by immersion using an aqueous solution of the desired material. However, it has been found that for certain metal oxide solids the ordinary aqueous immersion method is unsatisfactory. Surprisingly, a substantial fraction of these particular solids are found to shatter upon being immersed in water. This shattering represents an appreciable loss and added cost. The solids subject to this condition, i.e., sensitivity to water, in general are highly microporous materials which are substantially free of pores having diameters of the order of 1000 A. and larger, particularly a substantially alumina solid.